Political Positioning Begins For 2015 Southampton Town Election

The 2015 election cycle in Southampton Town, and throughout the East End, appears to be lining up to feature a number of rare political treats.

A supervisor will be seeking a fourth term in Southampton Town’s top post. A Suffolk County Legislature seat that has changed hands only once in the past 25 years will be up for grabs. Members of the Southampton Town Board’s female majority all will be up for reelection and, in some cases, could be weighing a reelection bid against a run for a different political post.

And a lawmaker approaching 20 years in office might be considering a political step backward in his search for a new job.

Some of the early intrigue forming the scuttlebutt around Southampton Town Hall has been dispensed with right out of the gate: Two among Southampton Town’s longest-serving elected officials have emphatically declared that they will be running for reelection to their current positions in November.

Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst said she will definitely be seeking reelection to a fourth term this fall. Ms. Throne-Holst, a registered Independence Party member, has been cross-endorsed by the Democratic Party in each of her four campaigns, dating back to when she was elected to the Town Board in 2007. She was elected supervisor in 2009 and took office in 2010.

If she were to win a fourth and final term in office, it would be the first time a supervisor has served four terms since Supervisor Marty Lang served from 1979 to 1987 (five terms), following which term limits were adopted.

Ms. Throne-Holst also has been mentioned as a potential challenger to U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin in 2016 national elections—something that Ms. Throne-Holst said is not on her mind now, with the coming supervisor’s race. “I’m running for supervisor again,” she said flatly.

During the last town election cycle, Town Tax Receiver Terri Kiernan was discussed as a possible candidate for supervisor on the Republican ticket. Ms. Kiernan nipped in the bud any such discussion this time, saying Tuesday that she will be seeking reelection to another four-year term in her current office. It will be her third time running for the post; she was unopposed in 2011.

Another popular subject of whispers in town government circles is whether Republican Councilwoman Christine Scalera will challenge Ms. Throne-Holst for supervisor this fall. The two have butted heads on occasion but have otherwise presided over, as their parties’ respective elder stateswomen, a period of rare political congeniality on the Town Board. Ms. Scalera’s first term on the board will end this year, and she would have to choose between running for another four-year term on the Town Board or challenging Ms. Throne-Holst for supervisor.

Ms. Scalera, an attorney, said she has not made up her mind about which office she will seek, if any, come the fall. “I’m weighing all my options and discussing it with my family,” she said. “Right now, I’m very happy to be able to serve in the position I’m in now.”

Behind-the-scene political watchers said a challenge by Ms. Scalera is unlikely this year, when winning her own Town Board seat again would be a safer and easier task than challenging the fundraising juggernaut that Ms. Throne-Holst has brought to bear in recent elections. In 2018, when Ms. Throne-Holst would have to step down, that obstacle would not be there, and Ms. Scalera, if reelected this year, would clearly be the Republicans’ most formidable potential candidate.

“I would think the leaders will make a deal, and Anna will not have an opponent [this fall] … and, in exchange for that, Christine will get the Independence [Party] line, so she would have Republican, Conservative and Independence lines [for reelection to the Town Board],” said a source close to the local political parties, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Also this fall, the town justice seat held by Edward Burke Sr. and all five of the Town Trustees seats will be on the ballot.

At the county level, a young political newcomer has already thrown his hat in the ring for the race to replace Legislator Jay Schneiderman of Montauk, who is prevented from seeking reelection by term limits, after 12 years in office. With a bit of recent bolstering by Suffolk County GOP Chairman John J. LaValle, 29-year-old Amos Goodman of East Hampton already appears to have an early leg up on the Republican nomination to succeed Mr. Schneiderman, who was elected to the post as a Republican in 2003 but switched his registration to the Independence Party in 2007.

Mr. Goodman, or whoever comes out of the GOP corner, is expected to face a likely deep field of potential challengers. Democratic Southampton Town Councilwoman Bridget Fleming has been a popular focus of the rumor mill, and Ms. Fleming herself said that the race is one she is considering.

Ms. Fleming is coming to the end of her first full term on the Southampton Town Board and would have to choose between running for the county seat and seeking another term on the council. She was elected to the board in a special election in March 2010 to complete the term of Ms. Throne-Holst, after she was elected supervisor, and was reelected to a full term in the office in 2011. Ms. Fleming mounted an unsuccessful bid to unseat longtime Republican State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle in 2012.

Ms. Fleming said she is weighing her options between the various public offices on the table and some private sector opportunities. She said that continuing in public office is her main focus.

“I’m fortunate at this point to have a number of options to consider,” said Ms. Fleming, who lives in Bridgehampton. “I feel like I’ve really been able to do some terrific things on the Town Board, and it’s a great job, so I’m definitely eager to do more here. I also think the County Legislature is a place where folks who are committed to the good of their community have a chance to do some very impactful things. So if I were asked … I think that would be a wonderful place to serve also.”

East Hampton resident Zachary Cohen, who ran for East Hampton Town supervisor in 2011, has also voiced interest recently in running for Mr. Schneiderman’s seat.

Regardless of whoever ultimately succeeds him, Mr. Schneiderman said he is also considering where to turn next.

“I can’t retire yet, so I plan to be working next year, and elected office is something I’ve been involved with for 16 years,” Mr. Schneiderman said.

He said he has considered looking at a town office—though is not considering a bid to return to the East Hampton Town supervisor’s office, where he served two terms from 1999 to 2003 before being elected to the County Legislature.

“I’ve represented both East Hampton and Southampton for the last 12 years, I’ve lived in both communities, my kids live in Southampton, I’m building a new house in Southampton,” he said of his consideration of running for Southampton Town Board. “I won’t rule it out. Particularly if Bridget runs for my seat. We could swap offices.”